The present invention relates to an apparatus for deeply continuously pasteurizing meat and food products, packaged with a variable holding time, which apparatus can be used, for example, for pasteurizing sausage products, such as würstels (mortadellas), cooked jam portions, “raviolis” or “tortellinis” in trays and so on.
As is known, in pasteurizing food products, in particular meat products, the holding time during which these products are held at the pasteurizing temperature, and the cooling time, after the heating of the products, are basilar parameters.
Moreover, as it is desired to carry out a depth pasteurizing, i.e. a pasteurizing also extending to the inside of the food product to be processed, it is necessary to use, at present, large size pasteurizing systems.
In the latter, product cooling basins must have a great length, as conveyor belts driven with a constant speed are used.
In the above mentioned applications, the cooling basins must have a length of two-four times the length of the provided heating basins, to provide a depth pasteurizing, also involving the inside of the middle and large size meat products.
If the above mentioned parameters are not perfectly controlled, then it is not possible to provide satisfactory results in preserving the food products processed by the above mentioned technique.